Thursday, June 30, 2011

Oh boy, I'm not holding the camera today! Yikes! I am certainly more comfortable behind the lens than I am in front of it, but after reviewing a Shabby Apple dress, I am stepping out from behind the camera just for today! :) I have always loved wearing dresses, so an entire website dedicated to them is just my type of thing. Not just dresses though, they also have skirts, dresses for girls and maternity dresses too.

I chose a dress from the Set Sail collection, very summery. This is the Ahoy! dress, it comes in white too (Lighthouse), but I loved this green and of course I couldn't resist a turquoise bow! I love how this dress fit me, Shabby Apple celebrates all shapes and sizes of women, and I believe it. It is comfortable and is not too short on me, that is a plus in my book.

I love the color, don't you?

There are a lot of cute dresses for summer, be sure to visit Shabby Apple. click HERE.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

So I have been on a small sewing kick lately, or I should say, I've been on a: I just bought another yard of fabric kick, so I think I'll make something....and since my sewing skills don't go much beyond a straight stitch, I've been making table runners. So for someone like me with a fetish for dishes and playing pretty with them, that's a good thing.

I found this fabric and just fell in love. I don't usually go for true/navy blues, I'm more of a turquoise gal, but combined with the brown and green, it is great. Later, it dawned on me that it reminded me of THIS duvet cover at West Elm, that's probably why I bought it.

I kept the centerpiece really simple because the fabric is super busy.I found these candle holders at Big Lots (you might have read that yesterday) and took too many pictures of them used them. White pillar candles and moss not only for interest, but I love that green.

Some milk glass vases with hydrangeas complete the simple centerpiece, I love how the ribbing on the candles are repeated in the ribbing of the vases. Cool.

I used a couple different styles of charger plates, isn't that the fun of setting a table? Mixing it up? I found two dark expresso colored wooden chargers at the Goodwill and combined then with some inexpensive plastic ones that I spray painted green. Ivy Leaf Green? Yep. Krylon? Yep.Here's the expresso ones, the green are pictured further down.

I love these plates, I found them at Dollar Tree last year. They've got a neat starburst slash ribbing effect and a little age around the edge. They look very Summer-tiki to me, I'm not sure why. I pulled in the ottoman to seat six, I won't have to worry about that anymore since my chair score this past weekend!

Did I show you the candle holders yet? :)

The napkins are from World Market. They have a fantastic array of colors and come in a set of six. This color is called Lagoon Blue, so pretty.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Isn't it amazing how fast the days go by? I mean really.1.) I wanted to share a few tidbits that have gone on this week, a couple I am super excited about. We will start with this first picture. Do you notice anything different in the dining room eating area? Big. Goofy. Grin. Yes, I knew you would guess. New chairs, well, not new....new to me chairs courtesy of a quick trip into the Goodwill this weekend. I have my MIL to thank, she is the one that saw them, I can't believe my hawk eyes didn't catch them first! Please ignore the junky table.

Now I know these may not intially hit you as being my style, but picture this...

....glossy white and a turquoise linen fabric as a possibility. They will be painted and I am loving the caning. I think with the right paint and fabric, they will lean on the coastal/beachy/mod/vintage side. Initially, I was on the fence about them, they are A LOT taller than the chairs that came along with our vintage dining set, annndddd they are a little fancy (for me). Luckily, the legs are straight, or they would have been a lot fancy for me. But in the end, not only do we have a need for them, but I visualized them painted and I went for it. The caning is in fantastic shape, the little metal detail might go altogether, or might be painted a fun color.

Possible fabric choice:

One thing though, don't hold you're breath on seeing the afters of these anytime soon, I know they will take me forever to do....plus I'm in the midst of a dresser project for the master bedroom.

2.) This next picture is a sneaky peaky, I have some more sanding and of course the priming and painting. I'll let your imagination go with this one, but it should be done very soon and I'll show you the inspiration and the finished product all in one over-pictured (I'm sure) post. You might guess what the inspiration is already.

3.) A big thank you to the folks over at Be @ Home for featuring my blog as one of the best on the web, I really appreciate it! Click HERE to take a look at this great website, some great information going on over there.

4.) I have been on the hunt this style of candleholders for some time now. I finally found them at Big Lots. I noticed they had a smaller size, but they had them marked down the same price so I bought two large ones (they are about 14 inches tall) and if I want different sizes, I'll just raise one up on a book or box or use two different sized candles like I did here:

5.) If you have been a reader for any length of time, you know I have been sick and as of late, recovering from a recent surgery. But finally, I am feeling up to creating again and I have listed a couple of wreaths in my Etsy Shop. It's been over 9 months since I listed anything, so I am so happy about this. I feel like creating again, thank the Lord!! My sister and I decided that when I felt creative again, I was on my way to recovery. Not every day is good, but the other day I felt good. I mean really good, it was such a dawning on me, it's been a long time. So. If you feel so inclined to take a peek at the shop I'd love you to (button at the end of this post).

This is the large shell wreath and I did a smaller version too (below).

6.) I want to thank my top referers for this month too, I always forget to do this, thank you ladies!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

This is one of those projects that a little bit goes a long way. A super simple way to light a walk way, dress up a porch or create a centerpiece at a holiday BBQ.Whatever you decide to use them for, these hurricanes couldn't be easier.

I have a real sickness when it comes to glass jars. I refuse to throw them away and literally argue with my inner recycler over whether to throw that spaghetti sauce jar out or not, because I can use that for something. Like eventually all glass jars will be nonexistent, and the leaders of our country smile and nod at me because I've been saving all jars, bottles and containers....you know, because plastic has taken over the world or something like that. So from mayo jars to pickle jars, they get put in the garage until I find a use for them. Let the record show (and let my husband know too), that I have found a use for some of them.

I used the large (restaurant size) pickle jar and mini flags. I found the flags at Target, 3/$1.00-that's the cheapest I've seen.

Remove the label and clean the jar, soaking works best for me. Take the the flags off of the sticks. spray the back with spray adhesive and apply to jar. I just eye-balled it.To seal the flag, I put on a coat of Mod Podge, careful not to get any on the glass.

I used two flags per jar, and that is it! I put a little sand in the bottom to hold a votive cup level and I lined them down the walkway.I took this at dusk, but you can barely see the flame....

So some evening shots are in order, although it's tough to get a good night shot.Aren't they festive?

I like the simple look of them, but you could certainly embellish them more. Tie some jute or ribbon around the mouth of the jar, or if you are into the primitive look, coffee stain the flag first and then apply to the jar (after it's dry of course).

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Did that title get your attention!?! :) he he he! Sorry, I just couldn't resist! I haven't really been drinking, but I have {still} been collecting bottle caps and came up with another project just in time for the 4Th of July. If you'd like to see my other bottle cap creation, a bottle cap tray, click HERE.

Now this was my first time doing this so in retrospect there are a couple of things I would do differently, which I'll list later. Over all, I think it turned out cute. I wanted to hang this on the front door instead of a wreath, but I will have to bring it indoors should the weather get bad. It is not weather resistant.

Here's what you'll need:

Bottle caps

Scrap piece of board, I used MDF

Krylon spray paint

(Global Blue, Cherry Red, and Glossy White)

Glue gun

2 Eye screws

Patriotic ribbon

Wired Star Garland

Chipboard letters (USA)

Now I will not lie, this was one tedious project. The gluing of the caps seemed never ending...but if you can persevere, it'll be worth it. I was going to hire it out, but my teenager wanted too much money, so I went ahead and did it myself. :)

The number of bottle caps will be determined by the size of the board you're using. I used over 200 {gasp} and the size of mine is about 13 X 19. Odd I know, but it was a scrap after all.

First of all, determine your number of caps by laying them out on your board, sort of a dry fit, so to speak. Determine which will be painted blue, red and white, and separate them, I just eyeballed it. Spray prime them and let them dry, I used cardboard to paint them on and labeled each one the appropriate color so I wouldn't get mixed up...

After the primer has dried, spray on the 3 colors. I used Krylon paints because it dries really fast and you can quickly do 2 or 3 coats. However, I didn't do this all in one day, I let the primer dry over night, and then the final coat of paint over night. I also painted the board white. Now the gluing begins, make sure you have plenty of glue sticks handy, two squeezes of the trigger gets just the right amount of glue per cap.

I wanted to use ribbon as the hanger so I measured in about four inches and used an eye screw on each side of the top to tie the ribbon on.

Attach the ribbon of your choice, I had this flag ribbon on hand, but I saw some cute ribbon at Michael's when I was buying the wired star garland. I made a bow with the star garland and attached it around the eye screw and then tied a small bow with the flag ribbon and wired it on too, leaving some nice long tails.

I used some silver letter stickers and put USA on the lower right hand corner, just in case it wasn't patriotic enough. :)

It is ready to hang on the front door! It looks really festive when you're walking up the walk.

Ok, in retrospect, I think I would rather have the "stripes" in single rows.... a single row of red and white vs. double like I have it. It wasn't until I hung it up did I notice that it would have looked better that way, sometimes I forget to step back from a project. I might change it, but then again, I might be being a little too anal.Secondly, I should have painted the board black and then the caps would have seemed to be floating, which would have been way cooler, oh well.

All in all, I love how it turned out and it is totally original.

I hope you are inspired to keep collecting bottle caps and put them to use! Thanks for stopping by!